When I started Suspecting my Wife of Cheating, I Somehow Ended up Living in the Middle of Nowhere - Episode 21

Cleaning the chicken coop basically needs to be done every day. This is called “daily cleaning” — cleaning only the amount that gets dirty each day. Over time, dirt would slowly build up.

In contrast, what we did was a thorough “periodic cleaning.” Not just cleaning but scrubbing everything sparkling clean with chemicals.

At the village chief’s house, there was no one doing daily cleaning, so it was more like we did a full periodic cleaning. However, if you keep feeding the chickens without daily cleaning, diseases could break out, or salmonella could easily contaminate the eggs.

So, I was asked to do the daily cleaning too.

“Could you do the cleaning every day?”

“Sure. Would you like me to feed them as well? And can my daughters help sometimes?”

“Of course!”

Using a broom and dustpan, I began cleaning inside the chicken coop.

“Huh? Are you alone today?”

Yesterday, the village chief’s grandson, Hinata, had come over.

“Oh, good morning. It seems my daughters have something to do today.”

When I looked over, there were three kids.

“Huh? Are all three of you the chief’s grandkids?”

“Yeah, I’m the eldest son.”

“…”

The smallest one, who seemed to be the third son, couldn’t speak yet.

“This is my little brother, Goki.”

The second son, who I’d met before, introduced him. So, the chief had three grandsons. His wife had said the grandkids never helped out, so maybe it was rare for them to show up today?

Or maybe… they came hoping to see my daughters? …Probably the latter. Well, it would make the chief’s wife happier if family members helped out rather than an outsider like me.

“Hey, mister… are those girls your daughters?”

Hinata asked while cleaning. Yep, they were definitely after my daughters.

“Yeah, they’re my daughters. The older one is Tomoko, and the younger is Chieri.”

“How old are they?”

Seemed like he was trying to get information out of me because he couldn’t talk to them directly.

“You’ll have to ask them yourself.”

“Tch.”

Among the three, Hinata seemed to be the most outgoing.

“Hey mister, have you ever been to the city? I go there all the time!”

“Oh, that’s pretty cool.”

“Wanna take your daughters to the city with me?”

Hinata got so into the conversation that he stopped cleaning. My daughters, Tomoko and Chieri, don’t like half-hearted efforts like that. But even if I pointed it out, he probably wouldn’t listen.

“Talk to them about that yourself. It’s not my decision.”

“…”

He looked unhappy. He might even stop cleaning and just leave.

“I’ll just say one thing — my daughters like people who clean properly.”

“…”

Hinata got back to cleaning. He seemed really motivated. Even the eldest and youngest boys seemed to work harder. They’re pretty cute kids. Being straightforward is a virtue.

□□□ Chief’s wife, Toshiko Kunizaki’s Thoughts

No one ever showed any interest in cleaning the chicken coop before, and now today, all three of my grandkids are volunteering to clean it!

What’s going on!? What happened!?

Are those girls the cause!? Even though they just cleaned it once yesterday, it completely changed my grandkids!

I’d understand if it was just Hinata who met them directly, but even all three of them!?

This village is full of old people. Young women never come here — not even for tourism. And yet, two beautiful sisters show up, and now the whole village might go into a frenzy!?

Right now, everyone’s attention is on the pink-haired one, but that girl isn’t fit for farm work. The real treasures are those sisters. Before other villagers try to snatch them up, can’t we get one of them to marry my grandsons!?

They didn’t come to clean today. Maybe I should go visit their house for tea! We still have those manju sweets that the City Council Chairman brought!

I’m going!!

■■■ Tomoko Zenpuku (Big Sister) @ Home

I, Tomoko Zenpuku, had something I wanted to do.

Today, I wanted to work inside the house. The first-floor renovation was done. Next was the second floor.

But apparently, there had been a small fire upstairs in the past. The walls were still scorched. I wanted to start working as soon as possible, but the smell of soot hadn’t gone away yet.

Dad had told me: soot is acidic. So using an alkaline cleaner would neutralize it and reduce the smell. If you can still smell soot, it means dioxins might still be present.

Whether or not dioxins are really harmful is debated. But I didn’t want my precious family breathing it in if I could help it.

I diluted a pH 14 strong alkaline cleaner in water and heated it to 50°C, then started wiping down the walls and beams.

Dad said that the effectiveness of cleaning agents changes depending on temperature. The cleaner I bought worked best when warmed to 50°C.

After cleaning with a strong alkali, you have to wipe it down with clean water or else the alkali residue will remain. So I carefully wiped with the cleaner, then carefully wiped again with water.

Even cutting off the source of the smell wasn’t enough, so next came this:

I pulled out an ozone generator I had bought on Amazon. Oxygen is O2; add one more oxygen atom, and you get O3 — ozone. Ozone is unstable and binds to odor molecules, turning into O2 and water.

Ozone deodorizing can even remove stubborn smells like cigarette smoke. With a 20,000-yen (~$150) ozone deodorizer, you can greatly reduce soot smells.

While generating ozone, you need to seal off the room properly so the ozone doesn’t escape, but the effects are very promising.

Dad tends to be pretty careless and would’ve probably started renovations without dealing with the smell. But the pillars and plaster walls were still holding onto it. Before he started, I took the time to eliminate the odors properly.